When you are driving in Quebec with a tailwind and the Quebekers
treating the Trans Canada like the autobaun you sure make good
time. We covered 658 km today. We essentially blew right through
Quebec. So we are now in Edmundston, New Brunswick. If you are
ever have a chance to be in eastern Quebec. I’d suggest you plan
to stop in a number of the small towns. It is an amazing countryside
with beautiful towns…
Lisa, Lucas and I have had some visit time with Lisas family. All
good. We have enjoyed meeting with Bill and Gina and then Leah and
Tony. All great people. So we are now on our final run to
St. John’s… If we can get through the current snowstorm we should
still get to our destination by the 21st…
What is the name of the well known railway trip from Sault Ste Marie
that the Group of Seven used in the 1920’s to immortalize its scenery
on canvas?
Bonus Question, Can you name the seven individuals in the famous Group of Seven?
How’s this for a flexible child. He slept 10 hours last night in
his third bathtub bed. Why do we have him sleeping in a
bathtub? For a few reasons; he gurgles a lot when he sleeps, so
he needs a separate room, we like to stay up for a few hours after he
goes to bed so this provides us space. He has a pack-and-play but it
can’t fit in most bathrooms. So far it is working for both him
and us. Click here to see his Kinniwabi bed…
So it took us six days to get to Ontario, and it will take us six days
to cross Ontario. So crossing Canada certainly is a geography
lesson for me. I thought once we got to Ontario we were half done.
Nope! I think the hardest part of the trip is going to be from Thunder
Bay to Toronto. Good thing we have some rest days…
Well we have a tie for the Regina question. Sam Knowles came it
at 12:33 pm on the 8th with “Pile of Bones”. That is
correct. Only the name was actually, “Oskana-Ka-asateki” or pile
of bones in Cree. Andrew Keeton sent in this answer at 3:05 pm on
the 8th. The correct answer is Oskana. Regina was called
Oskana before Queen Victoria’s daughter had it changed to Regina. What
were they thinking???
So I owe Sam a whiskey and Andrew a beer of his choosing. Sorry
Pat you were a day late with correct answer, I’ll still be happy to buy
you a beer.
So when I first set up the site I sent out an email and mentioned how
we were going to be traveling through an election. Scott T.
replied by saying good luck with all the flurries of rhetoric. So I
figured I’d comment on one. What’s with the $1,200 a year for
child care??? Come on Stephen, be more bold than that…
pool the $1,200 per child and set up a national daycare. That’s going
to really help those who need it… Then of course, if your a
polygamist from bountiful this new policy would benefit you most. Let’s
do that calculation; 5 wives, 6 children per wife, thats $3,000 per
month. Thats good Return on Investment…
So we stopped at the Terry Fox Memorial. He really was an amazing
spirit. What he did in his short life was very inspiring. take a
look at his memorial statue.
Another skill testing question, how old was Terry when he started his run?
We’ve made it to Ontario… Five travel days, one rest day and
today we are in Kenora Ontario. It certainly feels different to
cross into Ontario from the West. Lake of the Islands (woods) is
a sight to see. It really is an nice town… This is a time
when I wish we were travelling in the summer…
It’s become sunny for our drive. We broke through to the sun at
about noon on Tuesday. It was good to see and feel against our
faces. I can’t say enough about how amazing Canada is a
country. People are friendly, and one every stretch of highway we
have sights to see. People are amazed in what we are doing in the
middle of a Canadian winter.
Everyone is happy and healthy…
What is the name of Regina before the imperialists changed it? A beer for the first one who gets it right…
Today we set out for Brandon Manitoba. Lisa and I brought along a
pilates DVD. So we worked out together this morning. Our backs
will be greatful…
Today was an interesting day of driving. -20 C with blowing snow.
Near whiteout conditions for brief moments. -38 C with the
windchill. In spite of the conditions the road was surprisingly
dry and made driving uneventful. We went from Calgary to Swift Current.
When we started we didn’t even know if we would make it 50 km, but we
ended up covering 520 km. It was clear and beautiful for the
second half of the drive. We saw Bison, we saw a Coyote chasing a herd
of antilope. All so amazing… Canada in the winter is a sight to
behold…
Oh yeah, google maps is an amazing tools to help you plan as you
go. Of course you need internet connections to gain access.
Surprisingly, we are finding internet connections quiet easily. Check out this link to see todays accomplishment.
Spent the last day building up the web site that goes with this
site. Its good enough now; so check it out
http://www.rawsthorne.org/canada/
Everyone should drive across this great country in winter. I’m
amazed at the views; snow covered mountains, clouds, amazing places to
stop and very friendly people at every stop we made. And yes,
many thanks to Tim Hortons…
Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
